MedEsthetics—business education for medical practitioners—provides the latest noninvasive cosmetic procedures, treatment trends, product and equipment reviews, legal issues and medical aesthetics industry news.
Issue link: https://medesthetics.epubxp.com/i/111786
SHIFTING VOLUME ���The thickening of the skin and the decrease in wrinkles actually continues for a year or two.��� never graft more than what the breast can accept, and we determine this by constantly monitoring the pressure build-up as the breast ���lls up. Finally, the support is the important post-grafting care of the breast that nurtures the seedling to ensure survival of the graft.��� Longevity of Results The longevity of fat grafts remains a topic of debate. ���The retention of fat grafts, both short- and long-term, is not a completely well-known issue,��� says Dr. Eppley. ���It is believed, and considerable experience shows, that what survives at three months after injection is what will be ���permanent.��� But whether this same fat survives ���ve or 10 years later is not precisely known, and it may depend on what speci���c condition is being treated.��� Aging-related treatments are believed to be less permanent than those of structural rebuilding, for example. ���I���ve been doing fat grafting for more than 15 years, and I have seen patients retain their fat for years,��� says Dr. Khoobehi. Patients will notice that their fat grafts ���uctuate with weight loss and gain, he notes, and the amount of retention is greatest in patients who are at an ideal weight at the time of the procedure and maintain that weight. Dr. Coleman reports that his results are permanent, even though it may not seem so to the uneducated patient. ���The problem is people look at the area a week later and like the way it looks, but then they think the fat is going away. If you do it the way I describe, you create a lot of swelling and a signi���cant amount of trauma, so you have to wait three to four months for the swelling to go down to evaluate the amount of fat that���s there. The results you see then will be the same at one year and at 10 years. The thickening of the skin and the decrease in wrinkles actually continues for a year or two, while the volume stabilizes after four months or so. That���s when you see the ���nal results.��� Patients with big weight ���uctuations are the ones who have disappointing results, he adds, but patients who maintain their vital statistics should be delighted by the procedure. ME Russell Jackson is a West Hollywood, Californiabased freelance writer specializing in healthcare, clinical research and small business management. 54 MARCH/APRIL 2013 | MedEsthetics